Resolution In Support Of
The Salton Sea As Significant Wildlife Habitat

Western Field
OrnithologistsMarch
1998

WHEREASthe Salton Sea, the third largest interior saline lake in North
America, formed by accidental water diversions from the Colorado
River into southeastern California in 1905-6 and presently maintained
by inflows of water imported for agricultural purposes, agricultural
runoff, and freshwater river flows, has long been recognized as
providing significant wetland habitat for a highly diverse array of
migratory and breeding waterbird populations, and

WHEREAS
recent surveys have revealed populations of up to 1.5 million Eared
Grebes in midwinter (Jehl 1988), up to half of California's wintering
White-faced Ibis (Shuford et al.1996), and regional significance as
an integral component of the Pacific Flyway for tens of thousands of
migratory shorebirds (Page et al. 1992), waterfowl, and American
White Pelicans, as well as significant breeding colonies of
Double-crested Cormorants and Caspian Terns (Molina unpubl. data),
nearly 40% of the nesting Black Skimmers (Collins and Garrett 1996),
and by far the larger of only two breeding populations of Gull-billed
Terns in western North America (Parnell et al. 1995), and

WHEREAS
the Salton Sea has been documented to be of significant value as
avian habitat from the time of its formation (see, for example, early
studies reported by Grinnell 1908, Dawson 1923, Pemberton 1927,
Miller & van Rossem 1929), and has retained this significance in
the subsequent nine decades, with the Sea and its surrounding
agricultural lands remaining a renowned birdwatching locality of
national significance with over 350 species recorded and immense
numbers of breeding, migrant, and wintering birds, in addition to
unique post-breeding use by a variety of subtropical waterbirds,
and

WHEREAS
the Salton Sea represents a complex mosaic of habitats and land-use
types, from saline lake waters to brackish and freshwater deltas
resulting from both natural and imported (agricultural) water
sources, and of State and Federal wildlife refuges, agricultural
areas, and geothermal developments, all with equally complex
interactions and often competing interests, and

WHEREAS
the State of California and surrounding regions have experienced
significant losses of wetlands (Johnson and Jehl 1994), including
coastal wetlands, interior wetlands (most notably the Colorado River
delta and Tulare Lake basin), and interior saline lakes such as Owens
Lake (Jehl 1994), making the Salton Sea, despite its "artificial"
genesis, especially unique and important as de facto mitigation on a
regional if not continental scale, and

WHEREAS
significant colonies of ground-nesting colonial waterbirds and
ardeids, as well as of the recently established Brown Pelican, have
thrived during the 1990s, likely due in large measure to decreased
levels of human recreational uses of key portions of the Salton Sea
(Molina 1996), and

WHEREAS
the Salton Sea has experienced high levels of eutrophication,
salinization, and contamination, resulting in diminished water
quality and recently culminating in large-scale mortalities of birds
and fish, and

WHEREAS
freshwater sources for the Salton Sea are currently under threat from
planned diversions to coastal urban regions of California,
and

WHEREAS
current attempts by agencies, NGOs, private concerns, and lawmakers
to "save" the Salton Sea are gaining momentum,

THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED that the
WESTERN FIELD
ORNITHOLOGISTS recognizes the significance
of the Salton Sea to wildlife and supports rehabilitation and
conservation efforts for the Salton Sea that are responsive to the
needs of wildlife and based on sound and thorough biological data;
that recognize the importance of freshwater, delta, brackish, saline,
and agricultural habitats at the Salton Sea; that improve water
quality and guarantee continued adequate sources of freshwater; that
stress the critical need for protection and isolation of waterbird
colonies from human and other disturbance; and that seek to minimize
threats to wildlife potentially resulting from urban and recreational
development.